I am a first year student at college, and while I’ve always loved writing, I’ve been wondering whether I have the skills to work in freelance writing. I just got out of high school last year, and while I can write essays for school, I don’t know how I would transition to doing freelance writing work, especially since the type of writing required is so different. My main concern is that right now my writing might not be “good” enough. I don’t have any sample content to show clients, aside from academic essays. What tips would you have for starting out?
I appreciate all the information that you have given us. It’s something that I have been thinking about doing and I plan on going through the different steps you have here and putting myself out there. I love writing. Even if this was only a part time thing for a while it would still be great to write for people. I read an article about becoming a blogger too and she suggested even starting out as a ghost writer. What are your thoughts on ghost writing?
Fiverr is a huge freelance services marketplace where you can offer practically any online service. It started with folks doing gigs for just $5, hence the name, but you are no longer restricted to charging just $5 per job. You start by listing your Gigs, which you fit into one of their many categories, and immediately can start selling. The categories include everything from Graphics & Design to Writing to Video to Music to Programming. It really spans the spectrum.
10. Working Solutions – Working Solutions periodically offers work that involves data entry. In order to work with them, you’ll need to fill out an online application and follow it up with taking some assessments. They’ll contact you afterward – their website says this step can take up to 2 weeks – with acceptance or rejection. Once you’re an agent, you will have the opportunity to review and put yourself forward for programs you think match your skills. Each program pays differently, and payment is made either via direct deposit or mailed check.
Your article is helpful, and I plan to try some of these. Over the last couple years I’ve inadvertently picked up some writing jobs by good fortune that have paid .30 – .50/word, but writing was always a sideline. Now I want to do more of it – but searches are yielding abysmal and depressing results. My content is rarely and minimally edited (by professional editors)and I turn it in on time with solid grammar and syntax. I’ve been looking and finding gigs at .01/word or less. No wonder so much of the writing I read on the web is crap, including articles written by those who don’t know the difference between “less” and “fewer.” I hope your tips will help me find some quality gigs. After all, my name is attached to it even if there’s no byline.
Transcription doesn’t require a lot of technical skill — you’re essentially just typing up what you hear. Every now and then you may need to take a critical ear to what’s going on if it sounds garbled, and the better you’re able to do this, the better your transcriptions are. But it’s not usually too challenging, and there’s a transcript “code” you can include in your transcript in any section that’s too garbled to understand.
Completing surveys is similar to microworking in many ways – it’s good to sign up with more than one service, and it’s wise to keep an active eye on new incoming surveys so you can grab them before anyone else can. There’s also the added benefit that completing surveys really doesn’t feel like work – it’s a pretty mindless thing you can do whilst semi-concentrating on something else. If you’re handy with your computer, you can usually blast through them a little quicker than expected too.
While this is not technically “at home,” you can still earn great money without ever getting on the phone using your personal car, bike, or scooter to deliver food, give people rides, and even picking up groceries. The great thing about these companies is that it's also very flexible work. No one is telling you when to start and stop. You just do as much work as you can, when you can.
Thanks for sharing your story. Even though you want to be more creative, if you want to get paid for your writing as a freelance writer, you need to realize this is a business. I would rely – in the beginning – with what you are good at and have expertise in. This, for you, is health and exercise science. I would form my freelance writing business around creating health content for a client. From there you need to figure you our ideal client. This post may help you out: https://elnacain.com/blog/ideal-freelance-writing-client/ From there you can hone your copy on your writer website to attract that right client as well as market your business!
One such example, is diverting time on tasks you shouldn’t do. Let’s go back to the washing machine example. Your husband decides to fix it on his own instead of simply getting an expert to fix it. Why? Because it’s probably a challenge he enjoys, and it’s an accomplishment that would bring him satisfaction. However, if the value of the task is too low, you really ought to delegate it to others.

Hello, I'm looking for help with tutoring my sons to help along their communication skills. They were born premature and are coming alone slowly as far as ABC, 123, colors, shapes and writing. They are 2 and 3 going on 3 and 4. The father and I work most of the time, and try when we can, but would like a little more help. Also we will fund trips to museums, and other informational festivities that you may have in mind! please be mindful of price range.

#24 – Magoosh – If you are good at GMAT, GRE, TOEFL, SAT, and ACT, and tests, Magoosh is looking to hire online test prep experts to help students prepare for these papers. As a requirement, you must be an experienced BA or BS holder with high scores in GRE, SAT, GMAT. The standard pay for weekdays is $20 an hour and shoots up to $25 an hour over the weekends.
I’m just now starting to explore the possibility of working as a writer and came across this article. I’ve always enjoyed writing and I think I’m fairly good at it, but I don’t have any specific training or education besides what I learned in my college English classes, and English wasn’t my major so I only took what was needed for GE requirements. In your experience, does one need any specialized training or education to be taken seriously in the writing world?
Thanks so much and I’m happy to hear you figured out why you weren’t succeed at freelance writing 🙂 As for your question, web design companies wouldn’t give you a list; you would collaborate with them. Usually the are contracted to do a site with site content and if their staff writer is too busy or not there, they may hire it out. That’s where you come into play!
Many online job platforms such as Upwork.com also have their own system for recognizing and removing job scams. According to the site, many of them involve “employers” who try to pay workers outside the site’s payment system, and engage in some sort of check or money order fraud. For more tips on avoiding job scams on freelancing sites, read about it here.
Thank you for this post. I just recently got into freelance writing and I feel so stupid already. I found a blog that suggested odesk so I signed up with them and since I didn’t have a portfolio yet I applied for a job paying $20 for 10 articles due in one week. I’m halfway done but after reading this I don’t even want to complete the rest. I feel so cheated. I thought it would be a good way to get some experience under my belt but I have put so much time and energy in the articles I have done so far and it doesn’t even seem worth it. Should I even complete the job?

You may not realize it, but online writing jobs can be found in a bazillion different places. Think about it, every website needs somebody to write content. From business websites to blogs, writers can find jobs at thousands of different online locations. While they’re not always the highest paying, online writing jobs can also be found on various job boards.

As more companies shift from traditional sales models, the number of online sales jobs will rise. The same thing applies for online content writers, especially as newspapers and magazines shut down their offline publications and rely on online content. At the same time that there is an increase in Part-Time Online Jobs, the number of offline jobs will decrease. From 2012 to 2022, traditional advertising sales jobs will decrease by 1 percent, which means that the field will lose approximately 1,000 jobs.
Hi Elna, This was all very helpful. I’m a science writer by trade in the government sector and recently began searching for ways to make some extra income writing evenings and weekends and came across your article. Do you have any feedback about what type of contract I might be expected to sign. I interviewed over the phone for a non-science editing position yesterday and they expressed interest in hiring me as an independent contractor. Within the day I received an Adobe Sign editor’s contract with a number of my responsibilities to the Agency laid out, as well as expected pay and notice that I don’t get paid unless the Agency gets paid by the Client. So my question is, Is a contract pretty standard for independent contract writing jobs, in your experience?
In Canada (and the States I think) you can run a small business under your own legal name and you don’t have to register it. If you were running a dog grooming business or something, you’d need a formal “business license” but even with a home-based business you may still need one, but it’s unlikely and it’d depend on your city’s policy. Even if required, I’m sure many people unknowingly skip this step and life goes on!
Social media managers build communities for companies on social media, engage these communities in conversations (for example, getting a lot of comments), and encourage them to take some sort of an action (like reading a blog post, signing up to an email list, or buying a product). Social media managers also play a vital role in building brand awareness for a company.